


Hachimenreirou

by yominonozomi



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-08
Updated: 2016-02-08
Packaged: 2018-05-19 01:18:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 21,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5950669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yominonozomi/pseuds/yominonozomi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sakura never expected to find herself held captive by the deranged yet incredibly alluring leader of the Akatsuki, nor did she ever think she would learn to find comfort in his quiet presence. It occurred to her, as she gently ran her fingers in a caress along the man's face, that sometimes things did not always go to plan. Peinsaku with a generous sprinkling of Akasaku.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Renascentia

There she sat, under the tree, again. Not training or sparring like the other two, because she, Haruno Sakura, the strongest medical ninja and kunoichi of her generation and inheritor of inhuman strength, was too weak. The Uchiha had come back only a few months ago, mind you after killing thousands, attempting to kill even his own team, betraying an entire village, and learning god knows what kind of forbidden techniques, and he was welcomed back with open arms. He'd brought friends too.

Oh yeah. Three of them. The look on Naruto's face when he found out Sasuke had a new team was priceless. Two of them were over training next to her supposed friends. The other was sitting next to her sneering on about how she would never had a chance with Sasuke. What Sakura wouldn't give to punch the girl in the face. She clenched and unclenched her fists, trying to restrain herself.

"And Sasuke-kun likes girls with curves", the girl nearly snarled, looking up and down the length of Sakura's slim physique, "you obviously don't have a chance."

Sakura leisurely stretched the tight fabric of her gloves around her knuckles and rolled the sore muscles in her neck in a failing attempt to calm herself. The leather of her boots was trapping all of the heat of the day and it made her shins slide and sweat uncomfortably within them. It was humid out, almost unbearably so, and she wondered absently about the unusual amount of people who had been visiting the hospital due to a sudden lapse in sanity. A curious assortment of people had decided that this summer was the summer to flip their shit and menace innocent bystanders. Perhaps it was the heat. She could certainly begin to feel the blistering sun take its toll on her patience. Sakura herself had never really been known for superb mental stability, at any rate. She took after her mentor too much in that aspect.

There was a dull throbbing behind her eyes that was slowly ebbing into a sharp stabbing pain.

"Besides, he needs someone who will make his clan strong," she eyed the fairy-princess pink hair Sakura was so famous for with apparent distaste, "do you really think that he would want an Uchiha heir with pink hair?"

The female member of team Taka spit out the color as if it had done something to personally offend her and with a flick of her deep red hair over her shoulder, reached out in an attempt to pull on one of Sakura's strands.

The stabbing thundered into a white hot sear within her retinas.

Sakura usually tried to reign in her temper; bear it all with a smile and try to do what she could for her friends. So how, in fact, did she find herself not only on top of Karin, the skin on her knuckles split from repeatedly striking the other girl's face, but continuing to beat her within an inch of her life?

Her head throbbed and it felt like her eyes were being incinerated from the inside out. All the training had stopped. The witty banter that had been passing back and forth between Juugo and Suigetsu had silenced and everyone was standing still. But Sakura couldn't quite bring herself to care.

It hit her then, straddling the poor excuse for a teammate that Sasuke had chosen over her. She really didn't care. Her first love had abandoned her for power and broken all ties with because he despised anything to do with bonds and love, only to return with a new team. Her first ever sensei neglected teaching her to the point that she was forced to seek out a new one on her own. And to top it all off, she was always pushed to the background in favor of Naruto and Sasuke, the saviors, the heroes, the survivors, the poor lonely little things.

As far as she was concerned, Sasuke could stay here and train all he liked, he could screw as many girls as he wanted and have as many children as his shriveled little heart desired, but he would always be a traitorous, cold-hearted bastard. Naruto could stay here and try and try to make something of this pathetic excuse for a team, but their decaying bonds would never allow for more than the strained hostility they suffered under now. This whole fucking village could just rot, as far as she was concerned.

Sakura's feet stomped away from the training grounds of their own accord and soon enough she was in her own small apartment. She slammed a black bag onto the couch and began packing necessities. Her heart was pounding and her head was doing its best impression of splitting in half. She shoved down the throbbing pain and stalked into the bathroom to grab what was needed: toothbrush, toothpaste, hairbrush, only the bare minimum. She grabbed a small container of shampoo off the rim of the bathtub and froze. A disheveled version of herself stared back through the rectangular cut mirror hanging off the blue tiled wall, the flamboyant pink hair, the upturned button nose, the small splash of freckles that dotted her cheeks. But there staring back was a pair of sterling silver rings surrounding the jeweled jade that she was accustomed to.

It was then she became even further aware of how agonizing her headache had cheek hit the cool tile floor and the fuzzy black dots that had been lingering in the corners of her eyes for longer than she could think of took over. A deep, velvety chuckle resonated throughout her unconsciousness.


	2. Proditione

Sakura awoke to a damp, moldy smell that reminded her of the way the scent of Konoha's forests had a way of lingering on her weathered camping equipment. As her heavy eyelids groggily slid open, she made out the dimly lit walls of a cave, blurred with the remnants of sleep. The ground underneath her was soft and covered with an expanse of plush green moss. Somewhere in the distance, water dripped and echoed loudly. Thin strips of white light reflected from a glowing pool set into the rock in front of her and danced across the dripping cave walls. She pressed the palms of her hands to her eyes to try to cool the deep burning sensation buried beneath her eye sockets. It was peaceful here.

Her mind reeled at the events that had passed in such a short amount of time, but somehow despite the way the skin on her knuckles still stung, it felt like ages since she had last seen anyone she had known in her earlier life.

Sakura rolled to her feet and her joints popped in loud appreciation at the movement.

Curiosity deemed that she make her way over to the shimmering pool, carved out of the dark stone of the cave walls and raised as if it were some kind of fountain. The water was clear as day and glowed with a source of light she couldn't see. Her fingertips brushed the rippling surface and she was delighted to find it was refreshingly cool. Her reflection watched her, motley silver and green eyes gazing accusingly. What had happened? And for that matter, where the hell was she? If ANBU or even Naruto got to her, she was sure to be imprisoned, if only temporarily. The multitude of tests, both psychological and physical, that they were sure to put her through made her head swim.

But there seemed to be no one anywhere near. No chakra signatures pulsed warningly around her, she couldn't feel the warm glow of Naruto's ever present essence, not even Karin's angry life force could be felt within reach of Sakura's probing chakra. Where was she? She remembered storming away from the training grounds, despite Naruto's cries to come back, and running to her apartment. In her rage, she had begun hastily flinging things into a bag and packing what she would need to leave the village. She had felt Naruto's chakra signature racing after her and had known that she didn't have much time. But after that, it was all hazy. She couldn't manage to force her mind to bring up the memories of what happened next. Sakura dipped her hands into the water and splashed her face.

A warm breeze sung into the cave and gently tousled her hair, drawing her attention past the pool. If there was wind, there was an exit. The heels of her boots sprung eagerly back against the spongy moss as she made her way toward a dark end of the cave. The walls were damp underneath her fingers and cool drops of water traveled down the walls and tickled her hands. The jagged rocks were a dark, deep green and glittered with small crystals dotted randomly throughout them. They continued on high above her head and soon disappeared into the shadows above, but the crystals glittered through the darkness like millions of brilliant twinkling fireflies.

Her hands reached out as she descended further into the darkness and felt around the walls, the only thing keeping her from falling was the flickering light of the crystals. Up ahead she could see a warm glowing light. It looked inviting, a brilliant orange and yellow, and she found herself stumbling a little bit faster toward it. The darkness seemed to ebb away as she came closer to the brilliant glow and she began to run, heels slapping hastily against the floor and echoing as the moss gave way to more solid stone.

A vast cavern covered in crystals yawned open in front of her; stalagmites hung from the ceiling and everything dazzled in a rainbow of colors. Deep blood red crystal columns jutted out from the walls and sunshine yellow and orange formations made up the floor. Beautiful colors danced around and bathed the cavern in the light of a sunset. The rock walls glittered with the firefly lights and everything sparkled in such a manner that it took her breath away.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

There in the center of all the beauty was a man, amongst all the shimmering crystals and twinkling stalagmites, casually perched on an intricate throne of glittering red rock; lead up to by stairs made out of the same smoothed blood red crystal. He fit in perfectly- with hair the color of a setting sun and eyes like hell fire surrounded by molten silver. His skin stood out in sharp contrast to the warmth around him; grey and sallow like illness. Sakura's eyes caught a glint of metal atop the bridge of his nose, and followed the pairs of piercings into a dangerous trail that ended on a pair of snake bites that jutted from his full lower lip. Those same lips pulled up into an almost serene smirk at her (most likely embarrassing) expression. The man rose off the deeply set throne and descended the steps toward her at a lazy, predatory pace. The stalagmites cast splashes of color across the paleness of his face, and his eyes twinkled mischievously against the warmth.

It was at that moment Sakura's wits decided to return to her, and she blurted out the first thing that rushed to mind.

"What the fuck?"

If she weren't so suddenly afraid (and more than a little enraptured), she might have slapped her hand to her forehead. Intelligent, Sakura, really. The man didn't seem to mind, though, The way he minutely tilted his head to side and the light pinch of his brows was the only indication that he'd heard her. Traitorous blood rushed to her cheeks.

In a few long strides he was in front of her and she could smell the earthy scent that clung to him. Like Konoha's forests after heavy rain. Sakura suddenly felt a little woozy at the invasion of her personal space. The respected and revered kunoichi in her said that she should be on her guard and maybe not openly swooning at the sight of the man before her, while the childish little girl inside her (the one she could have sworn she'd crushed after one too many an awkward incident with male colleagues) in her giggled helplessly.

"Pein." He seemed to stop and contemplate something for a second and then he returned his eyes to hers. He was so close she could see the dark orange eyelashes lower and dust across his high cheekbones as he gazed at her. It took a moment to register that he was, in fact, speaking to her.

"Huh?"

She dared not attribute the slight tilting of those devious lips to humor, and she definitely didn't continue to stare at them as he spoke again.

"My name is Pein," he said simply.

Pein. An unusual name, not that she was really one to talk. The man in front of her certainly didn't look like he was in pain, judging from his eternally serene expression. A glance down at the well defined muscles of his chest and arms told her that he was apt enough at dealing pain out, though. The heathered grey of his shirt didn't hide much.

He was a shinobi, then, mostly likely. Most civilians didn't have the time or patience to hone their bodies into that kind of physique. The silver shine of a scar caught her eye and her gaze dragged down his bicep, following the jagged white trail like a strike of lightning on otherwise smooth skin. Civilians didn't get scars like that either.

"Pein," she echoed, testing the sound of it on her tongue.

It sounded vaguely familiar, now that she rolled the name around in her mind. The man, Pein, made no move to reveal anything more but his gaze didn't waver from her face.

"Where is this?" She finally asked. Somewhere in the back of her consciousness, she noted that her responses should not be this sluggish. It felt like cotton had been stuffed into her skull and honey poured over her tongue.

"Somewhere safe."

Ah, so not the chatty type.

"How did I get here?" She tried this time.

The fog was beginning to dissipate from behind her lashes, and alarm bells rang louder and louder in her ears.

He didn't seem to like that question, or perhaps he didn't know how to answer it either himself. His brows pinched together again, and a soft melancholy settled over his expression.

"You are meant to be here."

The alarm bells pounded an angry song against her eardrums, and the skin on the back of her neck prickled.

"Why?" She managed, her tongue heavy in her mouth but her mind quickly catching back up to pace.

Pein didn't answer. His lips pulled down and the melancholy deepened. Something within her twitched to sooth it back into place.

The ghost of a touch across her cheekbone splashed across her like a bucket of cold water, and she flinched away. The alarm bells were deafening.

"I'll find you," he said solemnly, the warmth of his breath following the trail his knuckles started.

Sakura awoke to the cold tiles of her bathroom floor nicely acquainting themselves with her face. Someone was pounding at her door and she jumped to her feet with a start. There were more chakra signatures quickly jumping over rooftops towards her home and more gathering at her front door. She pushed the remnants of whatever the hell that just was out of her mind and bolted for the window, just managing to grab her bag before she jumped.


	3. Conscientia

At this particular moment in time, Sakura felt like strangling someone. The roads of whatever god forsaken little town she was traveling through were made of dirt and kicked up clouds of dust whenever the smallest wind swept through. There was dust in her eyes and they were watering heavily, her throat burned from all the debris and the lack of water she had consumed the past few days, and every single muscle in her body ached. She had traveled at a ridiculous speed to ensure that no one from Konoha caught up with her. Over the past three days she had traveled well over a hundred miles at a speed she was sure even Naruto would be impressed with. She had survived only on the soldier pills she'd scrounged up from the bottom of her bag and some unfortunate wildlife she had hunted like a madwoman while dashing through the forest. She had only slept when she was sure there was enough distance between her and any pursuers for her to feel safe, and still awoken at dawn every morning to start traveling again. She had finally made it to Tani, the hidden village of River Country, which meant she had about twenty more miles until she crossed the border into Ame, and the small town she was traveling through was one the rest stops built upon one of Tani's infamous hot springs.

Sakura looked down at her vest, covered in dirt and badly fraying at the edges. Her skirt and shorts were doing no better, and she was fairly sure the odor she had been blaming on natural gas releasing from the hot springs these past few days was in all actuality coming from her. The grime on her skin was taking on a faintly green tinge and her hair was so hideously greasy she could feel it on her scalp. However, what little money she had was reserved for food and she highly doubted that she could afford any of the hotels that dotted this tiny town, let alone one with a nice, relaxing hot spring. She was sorely tempted to go back into the forest to hunt for food, but she had to keep moving if she didn't want to risk being captured by Naruto, which still meant no hot springs. Knowing him, he was probably already on his way here and ready to break both her legs if it meant bringing her back. There was another problem as well- this was a civilian town, which meant no ninja, which meant a distinct lack of ninja-like jobs. It was hardly as if she could walk up to someone and say 'Hi, I'm Sakura, you wouldn't happen to have anyone you need assassinated, would you?'.

Sakura sighed and walked past the few friendly looking vendors that lined the dirt road poorly serving as the entrance of the small village, and tried not to look at their stands lined with plump fruits and grilled meats. The scents wafted into the air and made both her mouth and eyes water. If she didn't figure out a way to get some money, and fast, she'd be dining on squirrel tonight.

Feeling rather queasy and more than a little desperate, Sakura looked around at the town in hopes that there would be a little old lady in need of help and willingly to reward a helpful bystander with a hefty sum, but had no such luck. There were a few bars and hotels lining the dirt path, none of them looking like they were particularly clean or luxurious. A few prostitutes lingered on the corner of the street and leered at anyone who walked past. She turned the corner and spied a few more seedy bars and what looked like a market surrounded by more vendors and their delicious, delicious food.

Her brows pulled together and she pushed her hair back with her hands in frustration, kicking a rock near her foot with a little more force than necessary. Was there something wrong with her? Was she so incredibly unlovable that that stupid Uchiha decided he had to leave the village without her and then come back with someone even weaker than she was, just to show her? She was no Naruto, but she knew that she was at least stronger than most. Her heart gave a quick squeeze. Was it because she was unattractive? She peered at herself in the glass of the Mocking Sparrow, an old, decrepit looking bar, and frowned. She had a fair face, nothing too unattractive about it. She was slim, a little lacking in the curves, but she wasn't hideous. Although, now that her once simple green eyes were ringed with slate, she supposed she did look a little unusual.

It was frustrating, to say the least. Sure, heterochromia was not entirely uncommon but it certainly wasn't something you randomly developed out of the blue. And there were more concerning aspects. Ever since she left Konoha, she could feel her chakra buzzing in her veins, crackling just underneath her skin like bottled lightning. At first she had just attributed the sudden surge to adrenaline and the fear of fleeing from her own village, but now that things had died down the humming in her veins still refused to cease. She had the same amount of control over it as she usually did, she could mask it and mold it as she pleased, but it was still painfully there. The sensation made her more than a little antsy.

The aching was enough to drive her crazy in itself. It was like someone had carved out the space behind her eyeballs and filled it with fine shards of glass. Sometimes it hovered behind her left eye, sometimes her right, and on the bad days it took hold of both and seared into her retinas until little white dots swam in her vision.

Once she got to a shinobi village, she'd have to find some books on doujutsu and sudden chakra emergence. For all she knew, this could be the onset of some kind of horrible disease. Or a vengeful ghost with bad eyesight was trying to possess her.

She snorted to herself and kicked at the poor rock, imagining it to be a particular dark haired man's head, before shoving all of it of her mind. Maybe she could find some work or hear some helpful gossip in the bar.

Even when she attempted to brush the layers of dust from her stomach her shirt remained a few shades too rusty to look clean, but she ruffled her hair a small bit and walked into the dimly lit tavern nonetheless. It was a mangy looking place with few people in it; those who were inside didn't look her way as she walked across the room in quick strides and sat herself at the bar. There were a few lanterns and candles placed around that brightened up the place, but other than that it was fairly dark. No one here looked particularly happy, either. There were two men in seats at the end of the bar, whispering heatedly to each other and occasionally throwing suspicious glances around. They spotted her and glared. With a mumble, the taller of the two threw some coins on the table out of his grubby old wallet and made his way out. She had never been one to steal, but beggars couldn't be choosers. Sakura glanced around to make sure no one was watching and held her breath as she quickly slipped the coins off the bartop and into her pocket. A small breath of relief wooshed out of her lungs when neither man noticed, and she smiled politely at the bartender's expectant look.

"May I have a glass of water, please?"

The rather large man wiped his hands on his apron and grunted, grabbing a glass and filling it to the brim with some rather murky looking water. She pushed back the thoughts of exactly how much bacteria was in it, tossed her head back, and downed all of it. A few of the patrons were eyeing her in a way that she didn't particularly enjoy as she set the glass down with a thunk, but she supposed being a woman alone in a bar in broad daylight probably said something about her life choices. Just not the kind of something they were expecting.

The bartender gave her an amused look and offered the pitcher. She took it with a slightly sheepish smile and poured another healthy glass.

"Been traveling for a while?" He asked politely, a small amused crinkle around his eyes. Sakura looked up at him mid-way through her second glass and managed a nod in return.

She cleared her throat from all the sludge that had been building up.

"Yeah, a few days now."

He hummed and started wiping down the counter.

"You're awfully young to be traveling on your own." He mused. Before she could think better of it, she reached into the collar of her shirt to discretely flash her headband in his direction.

"Ahhh, I see." He winked and she quickly tucked it back into her shirt.

"Well little lady, my name is Hayate." He stuffed the rag he had been wiping down with back into the pocket of his apron and lazily leaned onto the counter with both hands. Condescending pet names aside, he seemed like a fairly decent guy. (She was not little and she was definitely not a lady, thank you very much.) At least, he wasn't giving off any kind of I'm-going-to-kill-you-and-eat-your-loved-ones vibes. A mess of chocolate brown hair framed his his blue eyes, and something about the way the corned of his eyes crinkled when he smiled reminded her of home. While he was a tall man with a big build, his biceps rippled from underneath the short sleeves of his greasy white shirt every time he moved, he seemed like he was more accustomed to lifting hefty barrels of alcohol rather than ripping people's heads off.

The bell twinkled as the door opened and a grin spread across Hayate's tan face.

"Izo! You crazy bastard! When did you get back?" Hayate boomed a thunderous sort of laughter and slapped his hands onto the counter. There was a grunt from somewhere behind her and grumpy looking middle aged man plopped down into the seat to her left, sending a suspicious glance her way.

"Yesterday. Boss gave me a few days off." The entire time he spoke his eyes never strayed from her face and Sakura began to grow the tiniest bit uncomfortable. Hayate gave another booming laugh and clapped the newcomer on the shoulder with a massive hand. Izo reluctantly drew his attention to the man in front of him and let his lips turn slightly upward in proper greeting.

"You deserve it, man. You've been working pretty damn hard lately. I wonder what's goin' on in that boss of yours' head." The man sitting next to her, Izo, grunted again and accepted the dark brown drink Hayate offered him.

Hayate seemed to remember her presence and turned. "Is there anything else I can get you?" She chewed her lip for a second in contemplation. Being the kunoichi that she was, with the pink hair and all, she was bound to be recognized at some point. That meant there wasn't much point in pretending to be someone she wasn't, especially now that the friendly bartender knew she was a kunoichi. It was either leave now and suffer through the few days trip into Ame where she could find actual shinobi work, or find a small job or two here and make the trip comfortably with a full stomach and clean head of hair. One was obviously a lot more appealing than the other.

"Is there anywhere you know of that I could pick up a quick job?" She questioned, biting her lip and smiling shyly. Hayate seemed a little surprised but grinned nonetheless.

"You know anything about medicine?" It wasn't Hayate who had spoken. Sakura cautiously turned to the man next to her, feeling her hackles rise. After an awkward silence in which it became clear it wasn't the bar stool he was sitting on that had spoken, she cleared her throat in an attempt to gain some normalcy.

"Yeah, I'm a medic."

The man grunted and went back to his drink. He seemed to hesitate for second, his unfocused gaze settled on the small glass in his hand.

"My kid," he paused and finally lifted his eyes to hers again, "she's got a bad cold. Anything you can to do help that?"

She looked to Hayate for any kind of reassurance, nervously running a hand through her oddly colored hair, but the bartender was busily cleaning glasses with his back turned. It seemed that he was smart enough to mind his own business when it came to whatever kind of shady deals went down inside his bar. Good for him, not so good for her chances. After a long moment of hesitation, Sakura put on the most charming smile she could and nodded. Colds, she could deal with a cold. Dinner certainly wasn't going to buy itself and she was dying to make her way into a hot spring. Izo drained the dregs of his glass and mumbled a goodbye to Hayate, who waved over his shoulder and scrubbed at some dishes with more force than needed.

"Let's go then. My house is down the street."

Sakura followed the man out with a farewell glance at the bulk of Hayate's back.

Izo's house was small and homey looking; the sun was beginning to set and it bathed the cream walls of the house in a deep amber. He dug around in his pocket as they walked up the stepping stones planted in the ground to his front door and stuck the key into the lock with a jab. The door opened with a stuttered jerk and he stepped through first, sending an expectant look over his shoulder as she shuffled around at the doorstep.

The slow descent of the sun warmed her cheeks and made her insides do a funny twist. Normally around this time Naruto would be chowing down at Ichiraku's with Sasuke at his side, the raven haired man sending him disgusted looks every time a stray noodle landed too close for his liking. Kakashi-sensei would be off somewhere unreachable, reading his little orange book and doing whatever it was Kakashi-sensei did in his free time. Sai would probably be sketching this very scene. Sakura gave a long look at the sky and stepped through the threshold. Her eyes were burning again.

Izo was sitting on an old grey couch and gazing out the window, sipping another dark brown drink, seemingly lost in thought.

He turned and looked at her, the dark brown of his eyes warmer in the light of the setting sun.

"She's upstairs." He motioned toward the wooden stairs with a lazy wave of his hand and turned back to his drink.

Each step of the wooden staircase creaked like it hadn't been touched in years, and paint flecked off onto her palm when she grasped onto the handrail. The upstairs was a plain affair, with a few doors held by a short hallway. Each of them was a greying white, the paint peeling with age, and the only color within the entirely of the room was the name Emily, carved ornately into the wood of the farthest door and traced with robins egg paint.

Dimming light from the fading sunset seeped through the crack of the door, and widened to bathe her in the glow once more when she gently pushed it open and peeked in. There was a little bed tucked into the corner adorned with fading pink sheets and a white dresser set next to it. A floral design danced across the middle of the walls, much to her amusement painted sakura blossoms and green leaves flowed their way around the room. She stepped further in and called out softly, "Emily?"

The bed was neatly made and toys were stacked perfectly in all their rightful places, the wallpaper was yellowing around the edges. A layer of dust hung thick in the air and swirled in the rays of the sunset every time she moved.

"Emily?" She tried one more time, biting her lip against a sudden wave of nerves.

Deciding that one last effort was all this was worth, Sakura pushed open the double french doors that led out onto a terrace like they would shatter with anything more than a butterfly's touch.

"Emily? I'm a medic-"

The words caught in her throat and mangled themselves into a strangled noise of surprise instead.

Pein was sitting carefully in a balcony chair, hands folded and expression serene, looking every bit as regal as he had sitting in a throne made of crystal.

He was wearing a dark cloak with scarlet clouds.

Sakura opened her mouth to scream, but darkness crept out from the corners of her vision and smothered the words on her tongue.


	4. Fortitudinem

Sakura was having a very bad week. She supposed some of it could be attributed to her own foolishness. Hey, she wasn't too proud to admit she might have made some mistakes- generally physically beating comrades was frowned upon in most social circles. But even if this was all some sort of karmic payback for her wrongdoings, it was a little much.

The kunoichi sighed for what felt like the hundredth time and ran a hand through her hair, resisting the urge to get up and stalk around the room like a caged tiger again. She had just received –the oh so pleasant- delight of waking up in an unfamiliar room accompanied by an - oh so pleasant - captor. The room (read: prison cell) she was locked inside of looked almost like a hotel, complete with vague crème walls and worn beige arm chairs, but upon closer inspection one would see that each of the windows had a small, white tag- which she assumed was a seal that she was not willing, or stupid enough, to rip off. She may have desperately wanted to escape, but her plans didn't involve being blown to smithereens or set on fire or whatever nasty surprise those tags were sure to let loose if she tampered with them.

There was a twin bed dumped into the center of the room that looked less than clean, but it was nailed to the ground and unmovable without her chakra (which had been oh so conveniently sealed before she woke up, judging from the dark inkings of the tattoo seared into her inner wrist) and for a second Sakura fought the urge to stomp her foot and pout like a little girl. Why did all the crazy bastards always go after her? She seriously need to consider dyeing her hair a different color, if that was what was attracting all these creeps. Although a little traitorous voice in her mind whispered that it wasn't so bad to wake up in a warm bed after a long few days of traveling, let alone with a gorgeous man peering down at her with those smoldering steel eyes of his.

The frustrated kunoichi growled and jerked up from her spot on the edge of the bed to pace again. The man was infuriating, the biggest bastard she'd ever had the displeasure of meeting. When she had awoken in a bed that she most definitely had not previously laid down in to see his placid face looming over her, Sakura had done the first thing any sensible person would have-

flung the nearest blunt object at his face.

As far as blunt objects go, though, she didn't think she accomplished much with that pillow and he had seemed more amused than anything. It hadn't come anywhere near him, of course. Thankfully, the filthy clothes she had been wearing for the past few days still adorned her body, meaning he had at least the smallest shred of decency as not to undress her while she was unconscious. He had just weathered through the profanity that was shrieked at him and merely waited until she was in the middle of hyperventilating to speak.

"I will speak with you once you are better adjusted."

And then with unhurried steps, he walked out. She, on the other hand, had spent the last forty-five minutes cursing him with every foul word she knew (and some she just made up) and slamming her fists fruitlessly on the solid cherry oak door.

Weren't evil masterminds supposed to love revealing their dastardly plans and gloating to their captives? The man hardly ever changed facial expressions, much less put forth the effort to say something. And what was with the whole watching her sleep thing? Was he afraid that the chakra sealing jutsu hadn't worked and she'd go on a rampage as soon as she woke up? While a valid guess at what her knee jerk reaction would have been, Sakura had a hard time believing someone like Pein would have anything less than absolute faith in his own abilities. Had he stayed the whole time just to greet her when she awoke? That just seemed silly, arch villains were hardly ever that polite.

Sakura gave a slightly indignant huff. There was no way she was going to surrender to the Akatsuki, no matter what they wanted. If Pein thought she would go quietly along with whatever his plan was, he had a nasty surprise coming.

As quickly as her exhausted legs would allow, she stalked over to the bathroom, and tried not to marvel at the shining marble walls and enormous bath. A large oval mirror hung over a swirled marble sink and Sakura glared at herself in its reflection. To put it lightly, she looked disgusting. Hair matted and greasy, face speckled with dirt and mud and shiny with sweat, lips were chapped. But her eyes peered out from underneath all the mess shining and multicolored like brilliant beacons of light.

It was hard to get used to seeing the color of Pein's eyes surrounding hers. It was like he was taking over her one ring of molten silver at a time. She angrily ran her hand through her tangled hair and tugged harshly when her fingers caught in knots.

Pein had just left a little over an hour ago, and surely as member of the Akatsuki he was a busy man, so probably he wouldn't be back soon enough to harass her while she was in the bath, right?

She peered longingly at the tub and gnawed at her lip. It was black and white swirled marble and big enough to comfortably fit at least two. To the left and right of it was lined with shelves built into the wall and tucked into each shelf were dozens of little glass bottles. They were all corked with a little stopper and adorned with a delicately written little piece of paper as a label. The sunlight came through a large circular opening in the ceiling and caught all the different colors of the bottles. She stepped forward and took in a long breath. Lavender, peppermint, rose, matcha, cinnamon, shea butter- they all smelled amazing. A towel on the edge of the bath caught her eye, pristinely white and soft. On top lay a small piece of paper scrawled with a neat slanted script.

You are only a prisoner if you choose to be.

Sakura growled and crumpled the paper. She was a prisoner with or without a bath, so fuck it.

With a paranoid glance around, she turned on one of the spouts and shucked off her clothes like ripping off a bandaid. Steam began to rise and the bath filled quickly. Another sigh left her lips, this time of pleasure rather than frustration, as she lowered herself into the hot water and all her sore muscles slowly began to relax. The generous amount of lavender she had dumped into the water began to take its calming effect. Slowly, her mind started to finally process the hordes of information that had been thrown at her these past few days.

So she'd been abducted by the Akatsuki- or at least what she assumed was the Akatsuki, she'd never seen Pein before her life spiraled out of control, but he had been wearing their cloak- and she was being held prisoner in an unknown location. This would all be fine and dandy, but she'd made the one small mistake of leaving the village beforehand so now there was no guarantee that anyone was going to come save her. There wasn't even a guarantee that anyone was looking for her. She'd been a part of team seven, yes, but she wasn't Sasuke. She didn't have the same bonds with Naruto or the valuable kekke genkai that Sasuke had.

So she'd have to find a way out of here herself. That was okay, she was a kunoichi. She was used to getting her way out of sticky situations. There was just the small problem that there weren't really any ways to get out presenting themselves at the moment. Sure, she was strong, but that didn't mean she could take out a member of the Akatsuki by herself- without a drop of chakra either, mind you.

She didn't know the motivations of her captors either. Pein had said that he'd 'speak' with her later, so she assumed that meant he had some sort of purpose for her, but that could be anything. She was a valuable medical nin, but as far as she knew the Akatsuki had functioned this long without one just fine. Although she hated to admit it, something about the way Pein had gone about this felt extremely...personal.

Her gaze dropped down to the inside of her wrist and the swirling seal stared back up at her. There something old and archaic about being marked so boldly by someone else, it made her insides twist uncomfortably. She wasn't the best at fuinjustu but she could recognize the symbols for chakra and binding. She hazarded a guess that the next symbol was tracking. Peachy.

So Pein could track her and assumedly control her chakra flow. But what else could he do? She didn't know what the bind symbol meant specifically, but the nature of it meant that she had to be attached to something.

A sick feeling began to settle in her stomach.

Sakura rose from the lukewarm bath feeling cleaner than she had in weeks but still in the same amount of inner turmoil she had been when she entered. As far as she could tell, her only options so far were to gather more information and wait for an opportunity to present itself.

The tatami mats and cherry wood flooring were cold against her feet as she padded over to the large closet to the side of the room and slid the thin paper door open. Inside was a walk-in closet with only its skeleton left, a few empty coat hangers and a box or two on the floor. She frowned as she ran a hand through her hair, the wet knots giving way to her fingers.

Suddenly very tired, Sakura closed her eyes and rested the back of her head against the door frame with a thump. All her things, all her friends, her work, Naruto- they were all gone. Was Naruto even looking for her? She doubted he could handle losing her too, after Sasuke. He'd been alone for most of his life, and now both of them had abandoned him during his lifetime.

Her lips curved upwards as she allowed herself to drift into thoughts of her sunny teammate, most likely already on his way here, Kiba right beside him sniffing out her trail alongside the best trackers in Konoha. He'd tear through anything that got in his way and bring down all seven of the nations if it meant he could get get to her. Just like they'd done with Sasuke.

She chuckled to herself, imagining to look on Tsunade's face when he came barging in, demanding that a retrieval team be assembled this instant, dattebayo! He'd make a great Hokage someday, Sakura thought fondly.

It was selfish of her to expect him to still come after her, she knew. Naruto deserved better. Maybe it was the homesickness, or her current situation, but suddenly the idea of staying in Konoha didn't seem so bad as long as she had Naruto to cling to.

From behind, someone loudly cleared their throat and shifted their weight, (not so) patiently waiting for her to finish reminiscing. Sakura nearly shot out of her skin as the cold grip of fear seized her stomach, and clutched the towel closer to her body. Slowly, she turned around to face the person behind her.

Hoshigaki Kisame stood in all his glory, an amused grin showing off his pointed teeth well. He looked relaxed, oddly enough, with his arms crossed over his broad chest and one hip popped out to the side. He was dressed in normal clothes, dark pants and a tight fitting dark grey shirt; not that the absence of the cloak made him any less recognizable. Dark blue hair stood at odds ends atop his head and a simple black head band kept it from falling in his eyes. It was odd, seeing him dressed comfortably. It was like seeing Kakashi without his mask. The shark man's deep black eyes surveyed her next to naked form and his grin widened. Tsunade's famed apprentice swallowed thickly and wrapped the suddenly thin fabric around herself tighter. He simply raised an eyebrow and waved his hand lavishly in the air as he bowed.

Her eyes slid beside the shark man where another familiar face stood; Hidan. He looked annoyed at having to be here, his pants the same as Kisame's and hung low on his hips. He however was shirtless; his pale torso toned in the way that only the shinobi lifestyle could produce. All sleek muscle built for speed and strength, rather than the showiness of unrefined power. The usual silver chain hung from his neck and the shining Jashin symbol tapped his navel as it swung with the movement of him putting his hands on his hips. He made an amused sound in the back of his throat at her perusal of his torso, but judging from the way his line of sight hovered hungrily on parts she would rather they didn't, he wasn't one to talk.

"Dinner is served, m'lady," Kisame mused in a deep gravelly voice, placing a dinged up tray on the foot of the bed.

Was that a spot of blood on it?

He sat down next to it and patted the mattress, as if he was here to have a casual chat and meal with a buddy. Hidan continued to blatantly stare at her chest and hover near the door, waiting for her to make a move he deemed threatening and chop her into little bits, most likely. She couldn't help but notice that neither of them had their customary weapons with them, however.

Kisame scanned her before his eyes drifted the empty closet, seeming to finally understand the situation. Suddenly, he grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled it off, as if it were the most casual thing in the world to do, and threw it at her. He chuckled good naturedly at her mute horror and gave a nonchalant shrug.

"Would you rather walk around in that?" He eyed the towel she was clinging to like he could see right through it.

"Oh, um no, thanks," she managed lamely, turning back to look at the closet, and then shooting a nervous look at the two. Kisame slapped his large hands over his eyes, grinning from underneath them. Hidan just shot her a raunchy wink and stared her down. She couldn't try to kill them and escape in a towel, right? She reasoned with herself as she stepped into the walk-in closet.

A mutter escaped her lips as she slid the door shut and quickly shimmied out of her towel, nervous eyes darting from the task at hand to the door, waiting for either of them to barge in and grab her at any second. But sure enough, they stayed in their same places as she slid the blue haired man's shirt over her head. It smelled nice she realized, slightly startled, like expensive cologne and sake. Quickly, she shook that incredibly confusing thought from her head and nervously tugged at the bottom. It was soft and swallowed her entire body, considering how large he was compared to her. The door sighed as it slid open and there he sat, in the same place he had been with his hands still over his eyes.

Sakura opened her mouth to speak, but a loud growling sound decided to rumble out of her stomach instead. She shuffled awkwardly and felt her face heat up despite herself. Kisame gave her a look half caught between amusement and pity and scooted a little further toward the end of the bed.

"Eat up, sweetcheeks, leader said we gotta make sure you eat every bite."

"What, why?"

She didn't know why she felt compelled to argue, but it slipped her mouth before she could think better of it. Kisame just sort of gave her a weird look and Hidan mutter something along the lines of "ungrateful heathen" under his breath.

"Dunno, hun, just orders."

She huffed softly and edged toward Kisame, sitting as far away from him as she could while still actually staying on the bed, and hungrily started to dig into the food. It was nothing too extravagant, just some grilled chicken and what looked like mashed potatoes. She hadn't realized she had been so hungry. After a few long moments, Sakura started to self-consciously slow her bites, her eyes drifting up to the two men with amused looks on their faces.

"Try not to fucking choke on it," Hidan snickered. She was pretty sure her entire face turned red and she forced herself to start slowly taking tiny bites. It was uncomfortable with the two men watching like hawks, she felt like some sort of test subject. She couldn't really bring herself to care too much though, the hunger in her stomach felt like it was going to gnaw its way out of her torso and demand more food itself.

Suddenly, she wondered if they had a chef or if they made their own food. Kisame was grinning knowingly and after a particularly large swallow, she found the courage to speak again.

"Did you make this?"

There was no way in hell that the giant half man half shark in front of her had any sort of culinary talent. He looked like he'd eat her raw, and that probably said a lot about his standards because she didn't have all that much meat on her anyway. The massive shinobi in front of her boomed laughter and shook his head.

"No, one of the other members did. He's about as girly as it gets around here."

His grin slanted as he watched her finish off her food. She must have been hallucinating that affectionate amusement in his eyes.

"Well, I suppose now that you're here you're the closest thing to girly," he chuckled.

Sakura gave an indignant sniff at that. She may not have had overstated curves or a particularly dainty lifestyle, but she was certain her hair color covered girly better than a lot of other women.

"I am girl," she said dryly.

Kisame guffawed and Hidan dragged his eyes up her legs in an exaggerated motion, muttering something that sounded like "yeah, we can fuckin' tell."

Sakura pointedly ignored him.

The blue skinned Akatsuki groaned as he stood up and popped his back.

"Come on then, girly. Leader wants to see ya," Kisame said, and held out his hand.


	5. Familiāritātem

The office of the bastard who had decided to ruin her life and abduct her, effectively stealing her away from any chance of living a peaceful life on the road, possibly figuring out a way to talk to Naruto without getting hunted down by ANBU, and being happy and finding someone to love and having little pink haired children-

their office was nothing like she had expected. Her imagination had conjured up a dark yawning cavern with a single desk sitting atop of high rise of rock, and there they would sit, in all their glory. The voice of the terrifyingly powerful leader of the Akatsuki would boom across the empty darkness to her, stern and commanding.

Sakura was greeted with no such showmanship.

Kisame knocked twice on the solid oak door and opened it without waiting for some sort of ominous voice to call out "come in," and walked casually in with her in tow. The small office was warmly lit by two lamps and a too-large-for-the-room sized desk sat in between them, messy with papers. A chair not unlike the one she had back in her office at the hospital sat behind it, but it was the occupant that her eyes were immediately drawn to.

Sitting in the desk chair, hunched over a mess of papers and maps was Pein, his hand curled in his orange colored hair and a look of deep concentration on his face. Adorning the bridge of his nose was a pair of rectangular reading glasses, his piercings poking out from underneath them. Sakura felt her mouth go dry and her muscles freeze. Partly because he looked so intensely human with those glasses on, in the kind of way that made her stomach do little flips (although she'd never admit it), but mostly because this was the leader's office.

She was supposed to be seeing the leader.

She had been taken to the leader's office.

And Pein was in this office.

Which meant that this was Pein's office.

Which meant that Pein was the leader.

Of the Akatsuki.

Sakura was pretty sure she was going to throw up.

Finally, he looked up from his paperwork and set his smoldering steel eyes directly on her. His expression was as unreadable as always, but she could have sworn the way he straightened at the sight of her could have been described as almost pleased. He nodded a quick dismissal at Kisame and Hidan, and the shark man sent her a last reassuring grin as he disappeared out of the only exit.

She took a long, deep breath.

"What am I doing here?"

Pein folded his fingers together and gave her a long stare, giving no indication that he had any intention to actually answer her.

When the silence became so heavy it was physically uncomfortable, he finally pulled a medium sized box from behind his desk and held it out.

"This is yours."

Ever the conversationalist.

She frowned at the lack of response but reached for the box nonetheless. A cheerful pink bow hugged the plain brown cardboard, and in the slanted script she realized with a cringe was the same as that on the vials in her bathroom, was her name. (Sakura tried not to consider whether or not Pein had gone to the trouble to wrap the box himself, the idea seemed absurd. Furthermore, the idea that he had hand labeled all the oils in her bathroom made her want to laugh out loud.) The ribbon was soft against her fingertips as she pulled it free, a sharp contrast to the feeling of dread that clawed up her throat as soon as she saw the contents.

A clean, new cloak sat stared innocently back up at her, its blood red clouds swirling their way lazily across the fabric. Nestled into the thick dark grey material was a gleaming ring, one she knew adorned the finger of every member of the Akatsuki for eternity, including Pein. The jewel was a deep purple, smooth cut and breathtaking in its depth, but it was the kanji glittering inside of it that made her stomach churn.

Gyoku.

It was Sasori's ring.

"You want me to join the Akatsuki." She had meant that to be a question, but the words were deadened by her own disbelief.

"I believe you would be a valuable asset."

A valuable asset? Her hands minutely shook in their tight grip of the box as a terrifying mix of fury and flattery swirled in the pit of her stomach.

"I can't," were the only words that would come up. 'I may have left my village but I would never betray Naruto like that,' was what she meant.

"I see," Pein said simply, seeming a little disappointed. His hands curled in his lap as he leaned back and frowned silently.

"Have you had a chance to examine your eyes?"

Sakura blinked at the sudden question.

"My eyes?"

Pein only nodded minutely in response and patiently met her gaze.

"Um, no," she managed, suddenly feeling awkward under the weight of his stare. "I have no chakra."

His brows pinched in a way that was becoming almost familiar and he extended a hand toward her. She hesitated before cautiously handing back the box, relieved that he didn't seem intent on forcing her into wearing the ring at the moment.

He caught her hand before she could retreat, and brushed his thumb along the dark ink on the inside of her wrist. She watched as it followed the blue trails of her veins down her arm and then dragged agonizingly slow back up, his other hand coming to cup hers. She could feel the warmth seeping from his fingers, and exhaled in attempt to keep the dizzying feeling at bay. With a final deliberate drag on his thumb across her pulse point, he teased the seals into changing and released her.

"You may access a small amount now."

The sound of his voice shocked her out of the stupor that had snuck underneath her skin and she jerked back. Her heart was pounding against her ribcage and drumming in her ears, and her mouth felt thick and uncooperative.

True to his word, though, she could feel a trickle of chakra begin to make its rounds of her system, sparking through her pathways and leaping up into her fingers when she called it.

Kisame lumbered in and stood at half-attention behind her, his hands casually shoved in the pockets of his trousers.

"I will give you some time to reconsider. In the meantime, please attend to any injuries the members or myself may receive," Pein drawled, seeming completely unaffected by what had just happened.

Without another word, a blue hand clamped around her bicep and she was dragged out of the office. The walk down the dark and musty hallways deeper inside the compound was short, and soon she found herself being led back down the area of clean, homey hallways she had just come from. Her mind frantically worked for something she could use to stall, to not go back in that stupid, bland prison cell. Hidan had appeared next to her and shot a suspicious glare her way as her eyes flew around the hallways, searching for some kind of purchase to cling to.

She found that she didn't need to grasp at straws for an idea, however, as at the last moment she was led down a different set of turns and twists and farther away from that dreaded room. Lights began to dot the long hallways, becoming brighter and more fluorescent with each step.

Soon enough, she was pushed into a room that she recognized immediately. Steel, sterile tables lay side by side in the middle of the room, clean white counters surround the entire perimeter, and cabinets hung low on the walls- a dark wood that had been meticulously cleaned and gleaned brightly under the white lights. Jars full of medical supplies were aligned neatly on the white tiles and the only thing in the entirety of the space that wasn't spotless was the disheveled man perched on one of the examination tables, a look of unadulterated fury marring his handsome face.

"Dammit, Tobi! You're such a little shit, hm!" He shrieked while simultaneously cradling one of his hands, a long steak knife driven right through the center.

His tan face contorted with annoyance, and he would snarled out a curse and flipped a waterfall of long, blonde hair out of his face. He was wearing what seemed to be the standard pants, but as her eyes traveled up she saw that Hidan wasn't the only shirtless Akatsuki member in her near vicinity. The young man's abs contracted with every obscenity he flung at the simpering man in front of him, and some nearby objects joined the onslaught. His muscular arms were bare and rippling as he clenched his bloodied shirt around his hand, but he gestured wildly as he ranted despite the dripping wound.

"Who the bloody fuck runs around with a steak knife, yeah? You little fucking psycho! I'm going to shove one of my bombs up your ass!"

Another man, fully dressed in an Akatsuki cloak and mask, who she assumed was Tobi, whimpered again and bowed low, begging for forgiveness in a childishly pleading voice. Sakura raised a brow at the scene and turned to Kisame who seemed to be enjoying watching the minor clusterfuck, but shrugged lazily as he turned his gaze to her.

"I never said making your dinner was a painless process," he mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. Hidan guffawed from somewhere to her left and it took a considerable amount of willpower to force down the smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

Nutjobs.

Kisame's voice caught the attention of the two arguing members and they both straightened, their eyes trained on Sakura. Eternity began as she waited for someone to say something, anything, but no one moved and the silence hung heavily in the bleach scented air. Azure eyes dragged along her face, devoid of anything but the milkiness of deep thought, and for a moment he seemed lost. Then rage registered on his face and his mouth twisted into a thin line, all directed at her. The masked member began cheerfully introducing himself, but Sakura was enraptured by the blonde's eyes, filled with such deep set hatred and pain, with just a little bit of longing speckled in the gold flecks. He never moved his gaze from her, but more and more he seemed to become infuriated. Kisame seemed to sense the growing tension in the air and shuffled awkwardly, clearing his throat. He opened his mouth to explain something, but a warm baritone beat him to it, cut with anger and clipped with ice, but not the anger he had inflicted on Tobi moments ago. Something much darker.

"What the fuck is she doing here, hmm?" He growled, and goosebumps washed down her spine.

Kisame stumbled for an answer but he was too late, the blonde Akatsuki had shot across the room and wrapped his bloodied hands around her throat, kitchen knife ripped out and thrown on the table. A choked noise of surprise left her and she instinctively grabbed his wrists, pushing back with the pitiful amount of chakra she had.

Just when she thought she was about to discover how well launching a member through a wall would go down with the rest of the organization, Kisame quickly ripped the young Akatsuki off her and threw him across the room.

"Deidara!" He barked in his deep, scratchy voice. "What the fuck? Leader said hands off!"

The bomber's eyes were on her again, burning with a hatred and rage that she wasn't sure she deserved. His teeth grit and bared at her, long strands of hair had fallen out of their usual tidy captivity and splayed across his broad shoulders. He was gorgeous, in a feral kind of way.

"You're the little bitch that killed Sasori!" He snarled, and it was then she realized-

this was the partner of the first man she had ever killed.

The guilt that had sewn itself into her bone marrow resurfaced with a sharp tug.

During the fight, she had gone after Sasori with killer intent easily. Eagerly, even. He had been an enemy to her, to her ideals, to her home, and a threat to the things she cared about the most- so she had murdered him. It was a shinobi's job to take the lives of others in order to protect one's home.

But the fight hadn't ended in the way it should have. Instead of a gruesome final scene against a forsaken man, things had been left unresolved. He'd allowed Chiyo to hit him with her final attack- with the puppets of his parents, no less- and then given her information that he had no obligation to share.

It had haunted her for months.

In combination with Chiyo's telling of his life- the death of his parents by Kakashi's father's hand, the cruel tactics Suna used to groom their children of war- Sakura quite couldn't find it within herself to hate him anymore. She only felt regret, and a tiny traitorous little worm of doubt in her head that said maybe she should have been more like Naruto. Maybe, instead of going against Sasori with killer intent, she should have read underneath the underneath. Maybe there would have been something salvageable.

He'd been unable to kill his grandmother even after all the foul things he said, after all. It was becoming more and more apparent, especially with the strange behavior of the men who had kidnapped her, that life really wasn't a matter of good and evil. There was only circumstance.


	6. Discidium

To say that she was uncomfortable would have been the understatement of the century, and Deidara certainly wasn't doing much to help the situation. He just sat there, tense as a board, and refused to even so much as look her way. His jaw was clenched and his face pinched into a steely expression every time she tried to touch his bleeding hand, but it wasn't as if she could avoid it. Tobi's aim was apparently impeccable, because the steak knife had gone straight through the center of the explosion artist's hand and effectively sliced a gaping hole in the little mouth- even the little tongue was split in two.

Kisame whistled lowly from behind her as she cleaned the wound and began the process of healing it. It wasn't a particularly bad injury, god knows she had healed much worse, but there was something unnerving about sitting so close to an Akatsuki member, let alone a shirtless one. At least Kisame had a sort of jovial friendly vibe, he didn't stare at her jugular like he was fantasizing about ripping it out.

From underneath her eyelashes she caught a glimpse of the stoney expression on his face (and a full view of his torso). He didn't look much older than her, really. His skin was sunkissed and tan in the way that Naruto's was, but without the rugged boyishness. He had all the sharp angles of a man's features instead, a long slender nose, sharp cut jawline, full lips.

The shirtlessness might have contributed to her view of him as well. The fact that he was muscular was undeniable. His chest was prominent and well formed, and beneath was a set of rigid abs that couldn't have been carved out of marble in a better manner. Sakura forced her eyes back to the task at hand before he caught her ogling the deep v that framed his hips.

"You'll have to keep from using this one for a while," she said in the steadiest voice she could manage, motioning toward the newly healed mouth. The small pink tongue flicked out in her direction before retreating and the missing nin flexed his hand apprehensively. "Otherwise the new skin will tear."

Deidara said nothing, and shoved past her as soon as he took it that she was done healing. She cursed the heightened senses that came along with being a ninja when her nose picked up his scent in passing. He smelled like sunshine, like Naruto did after a day's training. Sakura's heart ached at the thought.

"Sorry about him, pinky." Kisame rumbled, giving her an empathetic slap on the back that nearly bowled her over. At some point during their little healing session, the shark man had found a shirt made of a dark charcoal grey material; it stretched tight against his muscular upper body and looked as if it was going to rip where it molded to his biceps. Hidan, however, still remained completely bare.

The blue man looked for a moment like he was going to say more on the subject, but thought better and twisted his mouth shut. Instead he opted for explaining what exactly she was going to do with the rest of her time here.

"Leader had this place built especially for you a few months back," Kisame said, with a gratuitous sweeping motion to the medical bay.

"You've got full access to everything ya need here, and if there's ever anything you do need that's not in here just mention it to one of us and we'll get it for ya."

She couldn't say she wasn't impressed. The room was better stocked than most of Konoha's clinics, and clean enough to make the medical nin inside her drool. Everything was arranged neatly in ways that made sense, and labeled in the same scrawling handwriting of the perfume bottles in her bath. The four examination tables were cold to the touch, and gleamed in the sterile white light of the artificial bulbs. If they were missing a single medical tool, it wasn't one she could think of; syringes, scalpels, clamps, gauze, wraps. Hell, if the need ever arose she could probably perform a full invasive surgery right in this very spot.

"Just don't try anything with any of the sharp shit, pinky," Hidan cheerfully intoned from his spot near the door. "Or I'll gut you."

"Thanks for the warning," she muttered dryly.

Kisame shot a lazy grin in her direction and waved off Hidan's comment. "You're gonna be our full time medical ninja, and attend to any wounds we get. Oh, and to start off ya gotta give every one of us full physicals."

At her look of absolute horror, he shrugged. "Leader's orders."

It was a wonder how the organization had survived this long. Of the members that were actually present in the compound, it seemed every one of the bastards was as stubborn as a mule, and completely blase about their physical well-being. Kisame and Hidan had been the first to submit to the examinations, and things had gone relatively smoothly. Neither had anything obviously wrong with them, in fact they both seemed to be in peak physical shape, and the exams had been over in all but a few minutes despite Kisame's cheesy attempts at flattery and Hidan's vulgar propositions.

Next had been Kakuzu, who came only after Hidan had physically dragged him in, and remained stonily silent the entire time. At first sight of him, she contemplated flat out refusing to examine him, but the orders had been explicit. She was to check every available member over and fix the current problems, and then report back to Pein with an overall update and any concerns. It was considerably easier said than done.

After flashing a light in the depths of his fluorescent green pupils and listening to his (multiple) heartbeats, it became increasingly apparent that Kakuzu did not trust her in the slightest. His eyes darted after her every moment, and with each touch to his stitched skin he would twitch in a way that suggested he was only barely fighting off the urge to fling her across the room.

She had to hand it to Pein, whatever he did to frighten these men into allowing her to touch them, it was certainly working. Sakura slid her hand down the zombie man's side to check for any lumps or lacerations that were more peculiar than usual, and paused when she felt a ridge of stitching that seemed to protrude from his skin more so than the others.

"How long ago was this stitched up?" She asked, forcing her voice into the most clinical, nonchalant tone she could muster. Hidan's partner simply glared at her, the stitches that formed the side of his mouth curling in distaste. She suffocated a sigh and went about reducing the swelling, clearing the infected patch of skin of any toxins and then covering it with a patch of gauze.

"Come back if the wound starts to weep or becomes discolored."

Kakuzu grunted in return and slipped out of the room. Sakura's silver haired escort yawned from the stool he was perched on in the corner, and ran his fingers through his messy locks. Kisame was in an equally disheveled state, and was leaning heavily against the silver steel of the counter.

"Just one more stop before bedtime, princess," Kisame assured her as he ushered them out into the hall.

The hall that contained the personal rooms of the Akatsuki was much warmer and well lit than her own sad, boring prison. The floors were covered with well worn tatami mats that whispered underneath their shuffling feet, and as they came closer to the final door at the end of the long hallway she heard her two newfound guards slow in their steps. A sudden unsettled feeling made a heavy home in her stomach, and she turned to give Kisame a pleading look. If anyone here was going to take pity on her, it would seem to be him.

The feeling solidified when he wouldn't meet her eyes.

"We'll see ya later, shortstuff." He said, rubbing the back of his neck absentmindedly. Hidan only offered a derisive snort before disappearing into one of the many doors that lined the hallway, and Kisame soon followed suit.

Sakura shifted her weight from foot to foot and stared at the plain, faded face of the wooden door. It would be too much to hope that they were just giving her a nicer room of her own, right? She had only been here a little over a day, and as far as they knew she was plotting to open all of their throats in their sleep. (And she was.)

If there were any more Akatsuki members in the compound, they hadn't been there when she was conducting the examinations, and that felt as if it had only been moments ago. That left two possibilities; she was going to walk into a room full of traps or bombs or something awful and meet her untimely demise, or even worse, she was about to walk into the personal room of the one orange haired asshole she was completely intent on avoiding. Sakura twisted the handle and hoped for the former.

The furnishing of the room was simple enough, a moderate sized bed was tucked into the corner near a modest paned window. Grey light cast itself in soft rays onto the worn black comforter, and the sound of rain tapping against the window was so quiet it almost went unheard. There was no other source of light, and the rest of the room was swallowed by shadows.

Pein was sitting on the edge of the bed, his long pale fingers resting on the equally pale skin of his ankle. His sunset colored hair was dulled by the darkness of the room and his form was difficult to make out, but there was no mistaking the gleam of his eyes; the color of thick smoke and steel. Even in the dim light she could see them, feel them studying her, feel the pull of their strange light. His coat had been discarded onto the bed next to him, a limp pile of black and red cloth, and he wore a simple grey shirt not unlike Kisame's. It brought out the storminess of his eyes, and from across the room she could see the firm lines of his physique underneath.

It must have been apparent that she had no intention of moving closer to him, because after a few moments of watching her closely he rose. His dark pants hung low on his hips, revealing the greyish skin of his lower stomach. Sakura quickly ignored the few orange hairs pinned beneath his hemline.

"Is there something else you needed?" She bit out, hoping to speed up the process. The man made her nervous, not just because he seemed to have an unhealthy focus on her, or because he was the leader of the Akatsuki, but because she could never tell what exactly he was planning. She didn't even know why he had taken her, other than that he seemed to want her to join the Akatsuki.

He paused in his movements toward her, as if to ponder the question, and then stepped directly in front of her.

At such a close distance she could see his face clearly; the soft frays of hair that fell against his temples, the flecks of grey so dark they were almost black that speckled the molten rings of his eyes, the sharp tips of the piercings beneath his full lower lip. His breath smelled faintly of jasmine tea and it warmed where it reached her face. There was something indistinguishable in his eyes, something indescribably human, and when she forced herself to meet his gaze it took all of her willpower not to look away.

"I find myself unsatisfied with your earlier answer," he intoned softly, his gaze roaming the gentle slope of her jawline.

"Unsatisfied?" She echoed dumbly.

Pein made a quiet sound of acknowledgement and trailed a single, long finger across the tender skin of her undereye.

"You say you cannot join our organization, yet you left your village of your own free will."

"I could never hurt Naruto," she said firmly.

He didn't seem surprised at that answer, but dropped his hand from her face. She felt like she had somehow disappointed him again.

"You would put the life of one person over the lives of millions of others?"

Sakura's brows pulled down into a mulish expression.

"Killing Naruto isn't going to save anyone. He's not dangerous."

"All shinobi are dangerous," Pein spoke solemnly.

"Then what? We should kill all shinobi?"

The way he didn't answer made her nervous.

"You're a shinobi." She didn't bother to hide her accusatory tone.

"Naruto-san is an unfortunate means to an end."

Anger started to seep into her blood and made her hands tremble.

"Then find another way."

Pein's lips tugged down ever so slightly.

"Do you not agree that civilians would be safer without the presence of shinobi in the world? Without violence and war?"

"There's always going to be violence in the world. The reason shinobi were created in the first place was the protect the innocent!"

She was breathing heavily now, and she was forced to clench her fists to hide the tremors. She had never met someone so deluded in her life. How could killing Naruto make the world safer? The boy was sunshine and goodwill incarnate. Certainly this man didn't think unleashing the kyuubi and slaughtering every shinobi on the face of the planet was going to somehow bring about peace.

Sakura may have been a little idealistic, and certainly her teammates kept her in the dark about some of the darker aspects of the shinobi world, but she knew Naruto and she knew her comrades. They would never threaten the safety of innocent civilians, and they took no pleasure in killing. Sasori floated to the front of her mind again. Just like her, they understood that even those who seemed irredeemably evil had a history, with loved ones and loss and pain. Naruto himself could have gone down a darker path if it hadn't been for the select few who had been there for him in the beginning.

Pein had been quietly studying her for a long time.

"I see."

Sakura grit her teeth.

"No, I don't think you do."


	7. Emendo

It had occurred to Pein that he was losing his grip even before Konan granted him her fifth concerned glance. His age old friend had always been able to pick up on changes in his mood faster than he himself was, and after flicking a hefty stack of papers out of his sight in annoyance only for them to silently flutter back onto to his desk of their own accord, he could no longer ignore her painstakingly obvious tactics.

"What is it?" He intoned flatly, settling his gaze evenly on her from across the desk.

The blue haired woman pretended not to understand for a moment and ran a finger lovingly over the creases of her paper crane, before setting it gently onto his papers. She hummed in conceit as the heat in his glare intensified.

"Deidara tells me that you've taken the Hokage's apprentice captive."

Her words were soft and even, but he picked up a slight clip in her tone.

"He's not pleased, and word is beginning to spread. The others are on their way back."

Pein allowed himself a small moment to sigh and run his palms across his face, attempting to rub the fatigue from the muscles through sheer force. He had known this wouldn't go over smoothly with his members, given the girl's participation in Sasori's death. But she was too valuable to let be corrupted by the foolhardy ways of the Konoha government, and too precious in her abilities to watch go to waste. He had instructed Itachi to monitor her ages ago when the Rinnegan user had felt a small unsettling within his world, and the report that he had received was unsurprising given the identities of her two teammates.

On paper, Haruno Sakura was nothing special. Born of civilian parents, she had little to no special talent and was largely ignored by the rest of the ninja world, including her own genin team's sensei, until she had reached maturity. Even then, it was only her chakra control and association to the Godaime Hokage that had won her the small bit of merit to her name. However, Pein had dreamt of her for months before he could put that very name to her face, and the images of her iridescent green eyes and soft, lilting voice had plagued his sleep more nights than not. They had began as simple glimpses of color and fragments of her voice, but eventually developed into intricate, grandiose images of a life together. She stood on a throne of crystal and blood, calling out to him with a fevered voice and the same deep forest eyes that were now marred with the smoke of his own.

Somewhere in the back of his mind he noted that even staking such a small claim of her stirred something within him, the dark rings around her iris serving as a brand of his own. Something that marked her as his.

Konan clicked her tongue in annoyance and Pein was forced from his imaginings before they could delve into anything less innocent.

"They will adjust," he said curtly, returning his gaze to the papers without actually absorbing what they said. Konan gave him a long, doubtful stare that he pointedly disregarded, and then slipped out into the hallway. If he had bothered to listen closely, he might have picked up the quietly grumbled words "lovestruck" and "teenager" that tumbled from the paper user's lips.

He didn't.

It wasn't long before the paperwork was impatiently shuffled through, useless reports, expenses, and letters all hastily tossed aside in a rush of scrawling ink. Pein rose from the desk, already spent of the desire to give any more of the mundane clerical work his attention. His mind cycled back to the medical nin somewhere within his compound, the one that had haunted his thoughts for longer than he would like to admit.

Pein was not a rash man by any means, years of denying himself things he craved and the weight of power that rested upon his shoulders had insured that. His moves were methodical, details thought through to the point of exhaustion, every pawn given a role to play. Perhaps that was what made his inability to control himself around the young pink haired woman so alarming. He knew it was dangerous, and more than ill advised. She was an enemy nin by definition, after all. A juxtaposition of his ideals, and a threat to his power and world plan. A disaster waiting to happen.

The Akatsuki leader closed his eyes for a brief moment, attempting to wipe the thoughts of his newly found pink plague from his mind as he slipped his heavy cloak from his shoulders and settled onto his bed. His slate eyes found the rivulets of rain snaking down the frosted glass of the window, and he stilled. The rain had always calmed his mood. It was ever present, in the days of his childhood it was the rain that had been constant, not comfort, or food, or company.

It was then that he heard the footsteps of his fellow members approaching, heavy and dull against the tatami mats of the hall, and a smaller, softer set following closely behind. The brief pause was enough for him to pull from the thoughts of older times, and as his eyes drifted to rest on the slim figure standing stiff in his doorway he almost couldn't fight an amused twist of his lips. She looked radiant in her fury, eyes ablaze and hands resting defiantly on her slender hips. He watched her eyes flick nervously around the room, darting from wall to wall as if she expected the objects themselves to come alive and rush at her.

Those smokey green pools of hers flickered onto his face and roamed for a few moments longer than his self control would have liked, before traveling farther down. The quirk of his eyebrow went unnoticed as her gaze groomed over his chest, and he forced himself to his feet before he allowed his mind to ponder the kunoichi's thoughts any further. He didn't miss the way her sight grazed his pant line as he rose, and a smirk pulled at his lips of its own accord.

"Is there something else you needed?" She grit out, and he pondered if the red tint to her cheeks was from anger or something else entirely.

He entertained the thought briefly, dragging his eyes across the delicate features of her face. There was something otherworldly about the way her jade irises gleamed from within her pale skin, dotted with the softest splash of freckles. Her long eyelashes dusted across her the tops of her cheeks, a gentler tone of the same pink of her unkempt hair, and her slender nose upturned slightly at its end. Pein's eyes drifted to the full, trembling mauve of her lips and stayed there, caught. A darker side of himself dredged up whispers of what he imagined they'd look like forming his name, those vermillion eyes darkened with a smokey, tangible lust, hopelessly calling out from underneath him.

He decided against letting her know about those thoughts in particular.

"I find myself unsatisfied with your earlier answer," he said instead- which was not untrue. He'd been unable to pry his mind away from her denial for the better part of the day, much like he'd been unable to scrape out the remnants of her presence within his dreams when he woke. It would have been foolish to assume she'd simply give in to his desires immediately, especially when she was missing so many vital aspects of her own world, but her stern and unrelenting refusal left much to be desired.

"Unsatisfied?"

He made a soft sound of acknowledgement and tried to force down a chuckle at the painfully accurate double meaning. Carefully, he swiped a stray eyelash from underneath her eye and found himself caught in the rings of magnetic ash swirling around her pupils.

"You say you cannot join our organization, yet you left your village of your own free will," he prompted, a teasing lilt slipping into his tone.

The swift change of expression signaled her understanding, her brows pulling together and her lips pressing into a stubborn line. Pein watched fire begin a slow burn within her eyes.

"I could never hurt Naruto."

Ah, the kyuubi jinchuuriki. The eternal monkey wrench in all of his plans.

"You would put the life of one person over millions of others?"

The slow burn became an inferno, seeping from her pupils into the grey rings of her outer eye until they turned into molten metal, angry and roiling.

"Killing Naruto isn't going to save anyone. He's not dangerous."

Pein bit back a scoff.

"All shinobi are dangerous," he shot back easily.

If her expression was anything to go by, she was about to become dangerous.

"Then what? We should kill all shinobi?"

Even if he couldn't have seen the small amount of chakra he'd afforded her leaping from the skin of her knuckles with his bloodline, he could feel it humming in the air of their close proximity and searing into his skin. A dangerous warmth spread through him, igniting something dark and primal and sending little waves of electricity to his slowly numbing mind.

"You're a shinobi," she growled.

Pein watched her the full, plush skin of her lower lip pull back in a snarl and distantly contemplated sinking his teeth into it. His blood hummed in his veins in tune to the pulsing of her chakra and he took a long breath to steady himself. His control was slowly slipping down his throat and pooling in his stomach, giving way to a heady fog.

"Naruto-san is an unfortunate means to an end." The tonelessness of his voice seemed a little more forced than he would have liked.

"Then find another way."

His mouth tugged down into a small frown. Did she really think him so careless as not to exhaust every option? Perhaps a lifetime in Konoha had left her too caught up in false morality and childish naivety. It was her own village, after all, that had carried on a war through decades of suffering and death- her own comrades who had wrought destruction on the very village they stood in. Ame had fallen as a playground to the titans when Suna and Konoha went to war.

"Do you not agree that civilians would be safer without the presence of shinobi? Without violence and war?" He challenged.

The young woman flushed in anger, and he followed the rose tones as they washed down her neck. The fog tightened its grip around his ribcage and twisted.

"There's always going to be violence in the world. The reason shinobi were created was to protect the innocent!"

The viewpoint of a child born in peace, no doubt. Shinobi were trained killers, bred to mindlessly follow the orders of those who built their lives and villages upon the deaths of those less fortunate. There was no innocence in war.

"I see," Pein said softly.

This was where they faltered. They had been born and bred in different worlds.

"No, I don't think you do," she said, and he couldn't disagree.

The pinkette jumped and whipped around as a firm knock raptured against the heavy wood of the door. Pein was undecided whether he was relieved or infuriated to see the shock of blue that heralded Kisame's presence as the door swung open. The shark man cast a curious look the disheveled Sakura's way before deciding better of it and addressing his overseer.

"Itachi's back, boss. Looks like we're gonna need pinky here," he drawled in a sleep rough voice. Pein grunted impatiently and waved his hand, and the kunoichi took that as her sign to scurry out the door as fast as her feet could carry her.

…

Sakura ran a clammy hand through her already mussed hair for what seemed to be the umpteenth time and allowed a long sigh to slip from her lips in the hopes that it'd still the fine tremors in her fingers. It didn't. The other offending hand rested lightly on the door handle, nervously clenching and unclenching around the cold metal.

To say that the past few days had been difficult would have been insulting in its shallowness, and as she shifted from foot to foot she was once again was reminded of just why exactly she was here.

After the terrifying (and incredibly confusing) conversation with Pein, things had taken a turn for the more serious. The rings of his eyes had seemed to darken as he watched her from across the room, swirling like sea waves thrashing in the wiles of a storm. Sakura swallowed thickly at the memory of his warm fingers brushing against her lower lashes, and her palms began to sweat. There had been such an intensity in his eyes, and the sensation of being so close to his warm, hard body was dizzying. The deep baritone of his voice rang in her ears, and his presence had felt simultaneously suffocating and exhilarating. The rich warmth of his scent still clung to her nostrils, like wood fires and cinnamon.

On the one hand, he could have pinned her down and slit her throat from ear to ear before she had the presence of mind to react, but on the other, he could have pinned her down and done something very, very different. She refused to believe that the way her legs melted beneath her was because of the thought, but rather because of what was waiting for her behind the dark, rich oak of the door.

Uchiha Itachi.

The very name was enough to make her stomach roll, much less the thought of coming face to face with the man himself. He was what had driven Sasuke from her arms, nearly ripped Naruto from her grasp, and was instrumental to the near collapse of her home many a time over. He was evil incarnate, as much a representation of the opposite of her ideals as Pein was, and he was patiently waiting for her behind the very door she was still clutching to. Kisame cleared his throat pointedly from behind, and Sakura resigned herself to her fate with a deep pull of breath into her lungs.

Upon the sound of their entrance, Itachi withdrew his unfocused gaze from the sterile white walls and settled it on her. He was perched on the examination table in a way that could only be described as relaxed, palms settled flat against the metal and one leg resting on top of the other. His skin was made paler by the bright white of the room, and the stark contrast of his dark eyes against it gave him a predatory, haunted look. Long dark chocolate strands of hair tickled the hem of his shirt, and the prominent wings of his eyelashes fluttered as he caught her gaze. Even dressed and sitting as casually as he was, there was something about him that set Sakura on edge. Her breath faltered as the deep maroon of his eyes enveloped her, and she quickly glued her stare to the ground.

There was a small speck of blood underneath one of the examination tables, she noted. Truly fascinating.

Kisame prodded her forward, to her extreme reluctance, and rumbled off a friendly greeting to his partner. Itachi gave no verbal acknowledgement and she could feel the continued weight of his gaze on her, but much to her relief Kisame paid it no mind and launched into a lengthy explanation of just exactly what she was doing here.

"Pinky here is gonna take a look at your eyes," the large man mused, shooting a look filled with mirth at her determined examination of the flooring, "whether she wants to or not."

Sakura chanced a glance, following the strong angular slope of the man's jaw line up to his face and immediately regretted her decision, meeting the lulling swirl of the Sharingan with a painful squeeze of her chest. She took a moment to register what Kisame had just said and her apprehension doubled ten fold. It was not surprising that they would arrive to this, news of her healing of Kakashi's sharingan eye had made waves, especially in the medical community. While Itachi may be many years Kakashi's junior, Sakura doubted his eyes had fared the extensive use of his kekkei genkai much better. Decades of continued activation of his sharingan would have him quickly approaching blindness.

While she was busy trying to figure out how to examine the man's eyes without actually looking at him, the traitorous blue bastard finished up his small talk and strolled out without so much as a goodbye, leaving her alone with the one person she could have possibly dreaded seeing more than Pein.

It took every amount of willpower she had to set her shoulders straight and stare the missing nin down, but as she slipped into the detached, cool professionalism that dictated a medical nin's conduct she felt the tiniest bit of tension ease.

"I'm going to examine you now," she said in the most even tone she could muster, lifting her hands to hover hesitantly in the air between them. He had the audacity to look amused, but didn't reply. Sakura clenched her teeth and took that as consent, forcing chakra into her fingertips as she rested them lightly against his temples. He was warmer than she thought a mass murdered should be allowed to be. If he noticed the way her hands shook, he chose not to say anything.

"I need you to turn off your sharingan."

He watched her for a few beats more than she would have liked, but obeyed nonetheless, and silence slipped in as she focused on pumping her life's essence further into her life's antithesis' eyeballs. She gnawed her lip absentmindedly, her eyebrows creasing slightly. It was not long before it became obvious that there was something wrong, the receptors in his eyes sizzling and frayed against the push of the extra chakra force. The soothing hum of her healing settled in her ribcage, relaxing her breathing as it cast an eery green glow onto the walls of the room.

Sakura took a moment to examine the face of the man before her. He seemed older than she recalled, more ragged and worn, but no less beautiful. If there was ever a physical manifestation of the word elegant, he was it. A strong, masculine jaw line, long, slender nose and high cheekbones, full lips, long lashes- he was prettier than she was, she thought bitterly. Where Sasuke's features were soft and juvenile, his were pointed and distinctly male. There were differences, though, in what she had imagined him to be and what he really was. The raven bluish black she had remembered his hair to be was a deep, chocolate brown and much longer, the longest of the thin strands nearing his tailbone. The deep set of stress lines that trailed underneath his eyes were longer too, but she supposed that it was possible they had grown over the years. She wouldn't be surprised if she was sprouting a pair of her own.

She snapped out of her reverie when his eyelids fluttered, and took a healthy step back. His gaze remained half lidded and calm as she spoke, and the spots where her fingertips had just left were tinged the slightest pink.

"I'll need more time to heal the damage to your eyes," she bit her lip before continuing, "it's quite extensive."

The elder Uchiha didn't visibly react, and she took that as a sign to keep going.

"It will take a few weeks- three or four tops. Until then I'll need you to try to refrain from using your sharingan." At this, his brows dipped downwards slightly.

"If you've got nothing else to do, we can start our first session now."

Sakura was so used to receiving silence that she almost jumped when his smooth baritone met her ears.

"Very well."

Ah, the famed Uchiha conversational skills. It would seem being a frigid asshole ran in the family. Sakura hid her consternation and replaced her fingertips to his temples.

"Eyes closed," she intoned, and he obeyed once again.


	8. Incandesco

Sakura gave a long, whistling sigh and collapsed onto her bed, the fatigue in her muscles seeping into her bones. The first of many healing sessions had gone what could possibly be described as well, if only in the sense that Itachi hadn't killed her on the spot and his vision had minorly, minorly improved.

This hotel stay from hell was forcing her to confront the uncomfortable fact that the members of the Akatsuki were undoubtedly human, and it was really doing a number on her whole evil arch villain stereotype. Life was a lot easier when you thought your captors were hell bent on world destruction (which they sort of were) and completely heartless.

She was pretty sure she had Stockholm's Syndrome.

And her eyes hurt again.

Sakura pressed her palms to her eyes and rubbed vicious circles into them until she saw little shapes behind her eyelids. The pain wasn't nearly as bad as it had first been, but the incessant dull throbbing was slowly driving her up the wall.

A loud yawn pulled at her lips hard enough to pop her jaw. The seals painted across the windows blocked out most natural light, but she could tell from the inky darkness that seeped through the glimpses of glass that it was already well into the night. Her body sagged into the mattress with the weight of the day, but her mind seemed to be caught up in a different time frame.

What had that conversation with Pein been? Another attempt to convince her to join the Akatsuki maybe, but doubt nagged at the back of her mind and joined the ache in her eye sockets. He had her sealed, physically and metaphorically, if he wanted her to join he could just force her into it. With the amount chakra she had, she certainly wasn't that dangerous. He could just threaten to never give it back, or flat out declare he was going to kill her if she refused again.

She dragged a ragged inhale into her lungs and fought a groan. What had he been plotting giving her back any chakra at all anyway? Sure, she couldn't level a building like normal, but it was enough to use her medical ninjustu, which meant her chakra scalpels and a whole host of other nasty little things.

A sick feeling dug sharply into her stomach, and with no small amount of trepidation she lifted her hands to her eyes.

Hadn't he said to examine them?

Green light coated the room and the soft hum of her chakra bounced off the walls and washed over her. Had he done something to them? Put something in her head to keep her in line?

She felt nothing at first, just the normal smooth passages of the chakra pathways and the delicate cells of her eyes. Then the abnormalities started to filter into her consciousness. She detachedly ticked them off inside her head as a feeling of dread welled up in her throat.

Enlarged pathways, frayed nerve endings, irritation and inflammation.

It was everything she'd seen and healed within Kakashi's sharingan eye, only he had a doujutsu and decades of wear and tear. Even more concerningly, it was everything she'd healed in Itachi's eyes just hours before.

The dread coiled itself around her neck and squeezed her airways as she began to soothe away the minor damage. There was no denying physical evidence. The pathways in her eyes had doubled in size and were seeping chakra into the cells around her optic nerve. Even with the minimal amount she had, she could feel the increased presence hovering just beneath her eyelids.

So what did this mean? She had suddenly developed a bloodline limit out of the blue? One had been implanted in her without her knowledge? She didn't know how long she'd been unconscious when she was first abducted, they could have done any number of things to her body then.

But the pain had been present even before that. For how long? Days? Weeks?

And the rings. They had appeared the day she left Konoha. How many had been wrapped around her iris then? Had she gained more in her time here and just not noticed? What scared her the most was that she couldn't say.

The medic nin stared heavily at the rough stucco of the ceiling. Had Pein somehow given her a doujutsu? What did he know about this? Obviously something, considering they directly mirrored his own eyes.

With a growl, she tossed onto her side and glared at the sealed window. He would want something in exchange for the information, most likely, and she could guess what.

Sleep came slowly, crawling onto the bed with her like a great, dark cat and lying its heavy weight across her body until she gave into the suffocating darkness.

X

Sakura clenched her teeth and willed herself not to noticeably shake. Anxiety welled like an angry tide inside her, frothing into her lungs with every pull of breath.

Pein was sitting not a foot away from her, legs folded and expression the epitome of serene. The heavy material of his coat had been discarded somewhere to the side of the room, leaving his arms bare. Sakura's eyes followed the swell of muscle that formed his shoulders down his biceps to his long, boney fingers and then back up again. The pure presence of him sent sharp little tingles running along her scalp.

The thick fan of his eyelashes fluttered when she shifted uncomfortably on the scratchy tatami mats a little too vigorously to be subtle.

"Mimic my breathing," he mumbled. She watched the sharp piercings underneath his lower lip catch the dim light of the candles with every syllable and swallowed with some effort.

The thin cotton of his shirt stretched and relaxed across his chest with every slow inhale, and Sakura put a conscious effort into matching her each breath with his. This had not been what she had in mind when she had banged on her heavy bedroom door and demanded information, but in hindsight she probably shouldn't have been surprised he'd pull something strange like this.

"Eyes closed."

She screwed her face at him and grudgingly obeyed.

The lulls of his soft breathing dragged her slowly down with him into meditation, and soon her shoulders melted out of their tense state. The room was warm and dark, lit by a few flickering candles and the soft grey of the light outside. Rain fell in a constant chatter on the rooftops and pinged quietly against the glass of the window.

"Focus on me," Pein murmured in low tones.

She could feel his body heat rolling off him in lazy waves and washing against her skin. The smell of cinnamon and wood fires hung thick in the air and she breathed deeply, parting her lips and letting the scent fill her lungs. It fit him, somehow. Spicy and earthy and inherently masculine. The urge to reach out and feel for him was nearly overwhelming.

"Only me."

She could hear him much clearer now, the smooth baritone of his voice vibrating inside her ribcage. Something tugged low in her gut and she followed it, could feel the taste of it on her tongue.

"Just like that."

His voice was like honey and ash, and she could see the words leave his lips and flow toward her. She could see him, all warm light and essence, reaching out for her. She stretched out toward him too, and inhaled sharply when his chakra naturally intertwined with hers. It slid through her essence like thick molasses and caressed her flushed skin, raking up goosebumps in its wake.

He was bright light now, just within her reach. Her chakra tentatively brushed against him, curiously soaking in his gentle heat and coiling around his core.

Pein made a soft, pleased noise deep in his throat and Sakura's eyes snapped open. Her skin felt too heated and she was panting. Her cheeks seared.

He was watching her from behind low lashes, charcoal eyes glinting with something hungry and intense, waiting for her to make a move. Sakura scrambled to collect herself, thoughts disjointed and reeling.

"I thought you were going to give me information about my eyes," her voice came out raspy and far too hushed.

His lashes dusted against his cheekbones when his gaze dropped to her lips as she spoke. The impulse to nervously chew them was hard to beat back.

"Did I not just do so?"

"By meditating with me?" She growled, his roundaboutness lighting the ire her embarrassment kindled.

Then again, she wouldn't have been embarrassed if all they had done was meditate, and the minute tug of his lips told her he knew that just as well as she did.

"Let me guess, you won't tell me anything about it unless I join the Akatsuki," she huffed.

Pein gave her a patiently amused look.

"There are no others who could teach you."

The kunoichi clenched her fists in her lap and willed back the sudden urge to cry like she so often had as a little girl.

"If I join, you have to stop hunting Naruto."

Pein frowned ever so slightly.

"Naruto-san is vital to the Akatsuki's plans."

Sakura crossed her arms and gave him the most resolutely stubborn look she could pull her face into.

"We both obviously have a powerful doujutsu. Figure something else out."

The Akatsuki leader was quiet for a long moment, studying her face like one would study an intensely complicated puzzle. The pinkette watched his brows pull further together and prepared herself to deny his offer once and for all. He could imprison her, take away her chakra, kill her, whatever he wanted. If he didn't give up his search for Naruto, there was no way she would ever be a part of his organization.

Pein gave a small, slow nod.

"Very well."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes:
> 
> 1\. As those of you who have already read this story can tell, I've made some serious revisions to the previous chapters. In order to avoid any confusion going forth, I'd definitely recommend giving the earlier chapters a quick re-read.
> 
> 2\. I've removed the kiss! Yep. After re-reading and editing a lot, I decided that happened way too soon given Sakura and Pein's fledgling relationship. It'll happen soon, I swear.
> 
> 3\. The title has also changed (for the third and final time, I swear). Hachimenreirou means perfect serenity in Japanese.
> 
> 4\. Some much needed context for this story given the developments in the manga: all of the Akatsuki members spare Sasori are alive and well. There has been no Pein invasion, and Sakura has never met or seen Pein before in her life. Generally when it comes to information about the Akatsuki, I'm operating under the assumption that Sakura has been left in the dark by the rest of Team 7 like she was in the manga.
> 
> 5\. Which means: Itachi is still alive and Sasuke is back in Konoha of his own will. We'll see how long that lasts.
> 
> 6\. I know that in the manga Tobi took Sasori's ring (at least if I recall correctly) but we're just gonna say fuck it and give it to Sakura. Tobi will wear Madara's ring for the sake of ease.
> 
> 7\. Gyoku is the kanji that's inscribed on Sasori's ring. It means jewel or sphere which is p cute when you consider Pein is trying to give it to her. Y'know, cuz she's his jewel and all.
> 
> 8\. To all the reviewers saying that they hope Sakura doesn't go for any of the Uchiha brothers, this is an akasaku fic. The Akatsuki does involve Itachi, so they will have further interactions. I can't say much for Sasuke yet, as he's kind of an ass in this story.
> 
> 9\. Karin is also kind of an ass for the sake of the plot, I don't actually dislike her but she needed to be that way in order to cause Sakura's break with Konoha.
> 
> 10\. Can you tell I ship Sakura with everyone yet lol
> 
> 11\. To all the reviewers I've neglected to reply to so far, my apologies! Going forth I'll be trying my best to reply to every one of you, and if you're anon I'll simply answer your questions down here in the notes.
> 
> 12\. In the same vein, please review! It definitely makes me happy and I enjoy hearing what you guys liked or disliked about the story. Let me know if there are any Akatsuki members you'd particularly like to see in the upcoming chapters and I'll try to work them in.
> 
> 13\. If anyone would be interested in being my beta, definitely let me know. I'm absolutely awful at proofreading.
> 
> 14\. And finally, in case any of you were wondering (you weren't), the song that inspired this new chapter as well as all of the revisions was You Know You Like it by DJ Snake and AlunaGeorge.


	9. Somnium

The distant, insistent pitter patter of water dripping onto solid ground drew Sakura out of the heavy miasma of deep sleep but awareness only partly returned to her. The ceiling that greeted her as she opened her eyes was made of shimmering stars that playfully winked from the jet darkness above. Cold slithered up from the damp ground and forced a shiver into her bones.

This was familiar, she recognized distantly, but couldn't bring herself to be concerned. The thick comfort of sleep still clung to her skin like soft wool, winding its way around her limbs. She felt safe, detached and floating.

Slowly, her limbs dragged themselves up, and she stumbled in the darkness. Moss squished between her toes, springy and soft, and it felt like home.

Warmth wafted from somewhere ahead, sighing into the cave on the back of a gentle breeze, and goosebumps sprung up on her arms. Another shiver rattled through her.

The tips of her fingers grazed air and stone as she made her way through the blackness, seeking out the comforting warmth. The moss under her toes slowly turned to stone and her body hummed happily as the air began to ripple with heat.

There was a door looming in front of her, one that she didn't see until her fingers knocked into the wood and her toes scuffed the bottom. The handle felt hot in her hand, so she twisted and push the heavy wood open.

More darkness, but warmth and the soothing sound of heavy rain. It settled over her like a heavy blanket, and she sighed softly in content.

Another few steps, further and further into the heat, and the broad form of someone's frame separated from the murky blacks that painted the room. The slow, steady sound of their breathing tickled her ears.

Sakura slid toward them on dancer's feet, and delighted when her flesh finally warmed. A flush slid down her neck, chasing away the sharp grip of the cold.

Her shins bumped against the edge of a bed, and the form shifted, sheets rustling. Large, strong hands rested on her ribcage, searing into her skin. A small noise left her throat, but through the fog she couldn't distinguish whether it had been one of pleasure or surprise. It sounded too breathy and shameless to be her own.

The hands dragged a slow, scorching trail down her sides and the heat followed, coiling low in her stomach and warming her toes. She felt drugged.

Rough fingertips brushed along the outside of her thighs and caressed the back of her knees, willing her forward. She stumbled over the edge of the bed and into the dizzying heat like a drunk man into unconsciousness. The form wrapped around her fully, muscular arms constricting possessively around her torso.

The slow, steady breaths fluttered against her face now, and she gazed down into eyes of ember and ash. Each ring dragged her deeper and deeper into obscurity, numbing the sensation of everything but him and his hands and his heat. She could feel his every inhale rise flush against her chest and then retreat as his exhale ghosted across her cheeks. Little piercings dug pleasantly into her stomach and hips.

His hands were back on her, slipping underneath the thin fabric of her shirt and caressing up her spine. She sighed an exhale and pressed into him, lost in the sensation. The low sound of approval that rumbled in his chest vibrated along her ribs and a shiver followed the path his hands created, not born from the cold.

He brushed his lips along the delicate bones of her shoulder and up to the shell of her ear, sharp piercings dragging in their wake. Sakura inhaled sharply and tangled her fingers in the thick spikes of his hair, lightly scraping her nails along his scalp. The sound he breathed into her ear was deep and raspy this time.

The quiet scuffle of footsteps outside her door and the firm reverberation of a knock on the wood ripped the soft silks of sleep from Sakura and dumped consciousness on her like a cold bucket of water. She lay in bed, disoriented and reeling, until the knocks became louder and finally downright impatient, and then stumbled from her tangled sheets to answer it.

"Hello," the man greeted in a quiet, polite voice.

Sakura blinked.

A tray of tea balanced in one hand and what she presumed was her new cloak and ring nestled in the other, he watched her expectantly with bright, owlish gold eyes. They were beautiful, actually, like hardened amber. From so close a distance she could see brilliant yellow flecks reflect the bright morning light streaming in from her window.

It was the skin color that kind of threw her off. Well, that and the large plant-like protrusions sprouting out of his shoulder blades. He was tall, much taller than her, and made of lean muscle. The long sleeve shirt he wore hung loosely off the panels of his chest, sleeves rolled up to reveal two different toned arms. The separation continued up the thick column of his neck and split his face into two, all the way up to the fringe of his mossy green hair.

Noticing her stare, the man cleared his throat and murmured a quiet, "ah, excuse me." Much to the fascination of Sakura's inner medic, the appendages slowly receded into his skin until all that was left was the smooth dichotomy of his skin.

Finally remembering her manners, Sakura awkwardly stepped to the side and allowed the strange man into her room. She'd been moved to the hall deeper in the compound with the other members, into a comfortable room made of old wood rather than the cold concrete of her previous prison. A large paneled window dominated most of the room, stretching across the far wall from corner to corner like someone had cut out a piece of the grey sky and paved it in alongside the brick. Stormy light streamed into the room in long streaks and cast itself onto the soft charcoal of her bedspread. Medical supplies and notes on the individual condition of each member littered the desk pushed up against the wall, ink still drying.

With the small personal touches came a sense of invasion when the unknown Akatsuki member carefully set the tray of tea down onto her desk and took a seat. The white half of his face curved up into a small, polite smile.

"It is nice to finally meet you, Sakura-san," he said in a soft, measured tone.

She contemplated the meaning of 'finally' and perched on the edge of her bed as the man began to pour two cups of steaming tea with delicate, sure fingers.

The mug was warm in her palm and the tea tasted earthy and honeyed on her tongue. At her quiet hum of approval the corner of his mouth kicked up again.

"Ah, forgive me. You may call me Zetsu."

"It's nice to finally meet you, Zetsu-san," she parroted in somewhat of a dry tone. His warm gold eyes glittered in humor from behind the rim of his mug.

When he seemed content to simply sit and sip his tea in silence, an uncomfortable feeling started to sneak under her skin. He seemed friendly enough, at least in that he wasn't outright hostile like Deidara or lecherous like Hidan, but there was something about the way his eyes followed her movements with a quiet humor; like he knew something she didn't or just enjoyed watching her squirm. He was unfailingly polite, yes, but there was something predatory hovering just out of reach.

Sakura cleared her throat and cradled her cup in her lap. Being overly friendly with unknown Akatsuki members didn't seem like the greatest idea regardless, no matter how good their tea was.

"Is there something I can help you with?"

The man shifted his gaze from where he had been staring absently out of the window and nodded slightly.

"Leader-sama has allowed me to ask for your assistance."

"Assistance?" She straightened, brows pinching. "Are you hurt?"

Zetsu made a small noise of disagreement in the back of his throat and withdrew a crisp scroll from his pants pocket.

"I'm afraid there has been an outbreak of pertussis within the village. My attempts to create a vaccine have failed thus far."

The paper crinkled as she unrolled it, and a report of the number of infected presented itself in neat rows, along with detailed notes on a series of attempts to create an antidote. Sakura hummed quietly. A large number of children already had the illness, and with Ame's wet climate the bacterial disease was spreading quickly. She chewed her lip. While treatable, the disease was ugly and not something to take lightly. Surely ridding small children of a preventable disease counted as doing good regardless of whose organisation she was doing it under, right?

"I may know how to help with this," she offered, gesturing with the scroll.

Zetsu gave a nod and returned his cup to its place next to the now empty teapot.

"Then after you," he motioned to the open door.

X

The air within the small lab was thick with moisture and heavy on her skin, weighing down against her like a corporeal mist. Unlike the soothing sterile lights of her medical bay, the room was dim and cast with shadows. A variety of plant life grew on the far left side of the room, some she recognized as common poison components and others common in antidotes. Sakura decided to start checking her tea more thoroughly from now on. A smattering of notes and half-filled vials lay strewn across the countertops that lined the perimeter of the room, much like the mess on her own desk.

Zetsu motioned to the large table placed at the back of the room where things were a bit more organized, a series of petri dishes and vials lined up in neat, labeled rows.

"I've managed to isolate the pathogen, but struggled with the process of inactivation," he intoned quietly from behind her. Sakura gave an unfocused hum in reply as she began to skim his notes, her vision tunneling. His chromatography methods were flawed, something that could easily be remedied. All she had to do was complete the ultrafiltration process and add in an immune response booster, and the vaccine would be finished in no time.

Absently, she picked up a pen and began to scrawl corrections across the pages in front of her. Time became an absent entity as she went about the delicate process of filtration, and then combination, and then finally doling out carefully measured doses into little vials. Zetsu stayed dutifully by her side, handing over empty vials and tools when prompted.

"Can I have another sterile stopper, please?" She murmured, hunched over a partially filled vial. There was a crick forming in her back.

"Zetsu?" She prompted, glancing up at the man stationed at the other side of the table.

When she still received no response, she straightened to gaze questioningly at her fellow Akatsuki member, then stilled.

The quiet, polite man that had met her in her room had apparently taken refuge somewhere deep in the man's psyche, and all that was left was a hungry, predatory stare. He was poised across the table from her like a coiled snake, yellow eyes sharp.

They brushed down her jawline and fixated on the delicate skin of her pulse point, and he took a step forward. Her grip on the vial tightened as panic began to well up in her chest.

Pein had given her a room of her own and a minimal amount of freedom, but had yet to remove the limiting seal on the inside of her wrist, which meant that she was severely limited in her combat choices. She could try to fight him hand-to-hand, but he was a good six inches taller and a hundred pounds heavier than she was. Even with all of the chakra in her system, she could spare maybe one or two major punches before she was left with pure physical strength.

Zetsu circumvented the large lab table in between them and slowly stalked toward her on predator's feet, gaze hovering on her throat. He was close enough to touch, the dense muscles of his chest brushing against hers as he slid into the space between her knees. The sharp edge of the countertop dug into her lower back, and her heart jumped into her throat. His warm breath washed across her collar bones and he leaned forward, eyes lidded, to brush his nose along the tense muscles of her shoulder.

"You smell amazing," he murmured in a rough gravel, far unlike the gentle lull of the voice she'd heard moments before.

"Get off," she ground out, putting her hands on his chest and shoving hard. The much larger man easily remained immobile and grasped both her wrists tight in his hands. The vial slid from her palm and shattered on the floor.

Sakura realized belatedly that he was literally rooted to the ground, and watched in mute horror as he dragged the rough pad of his tongue along her clavicle. The dark side of his face pulled up into a devilish smirk and he looked up at her through lowered lashes.

"I plan to," he purred, pressing his hips into hers.

With a hiss, she gathered chakra in her palms and gave him a shove hard enough to throw his balance. She darted out from where she had been pinned underneath him and vaulted over the table, slowly backing toward the door. Zetsu stumbled and struggled to regain his balance, clutching the countertop. A strange look twisted the left half of his face, startled confusion slowly taking over his features. He glanced at the broken vial crunching beneath his feet then back to her disheveled, tense form.

"Sakura-san, are you alright?" He asked in that doleful, polite tone she was quickly learning to distrust.

Sakura bared her teeth, but a swift baritone cut in before she could bite out a smart retort.

"Sakura."

The kunoichi jumped and twisted her neck, peering over her shoulder at the previously empty doorway but far too paranoid to completely put her back to the Zetsu. Pein stood in the frame, eyes trained on the Akatsuki member standing on the other side of the lab. His normally serene expression was harsh, the gun metal of his eyes glinting dangerously in the low light of the lab. Sakura was suddenly reminded of just who he was, and the kind of power he held.

"Go wait in my office," he ordered.

She didn't need to be told twice.

X

Surprisingly (or rather with the way things were going these past few weeks fairly unsurprisingly), Pein had made a mistake. Or perhaps it would be better named a slight miscalculation.

Sakura had haunted his dreams since before he had even known of her existence, and he'd heard the sweet lilt of her voice since before she'd ever called his name. In his dreams, they'd lived lifetimes together, conquered villages side by side, ruled earth from a heaven made of crystal castles, and died together. However, it wasn't until recently, or more specifically the arrival of the kunoichi herself, that his dreams had decided to take a turn for the carnal. Every night he dreamt of her coming to him, slipping into his room in the darkness like a cat to home after a long day's hunt, and every night she curled into his warmth and let herself be caged by his arms.

The dreams lingered, too. Ghosts of touches itched at his skin while he attended mission reports, he could hear the soft sighs of her pleasure on a loop in the back of his mind; could close his eyes and feel the deeply satisfying sensation of her weight in his lap, if he tried hard enough. It didn't help that it had been days since he had last seen her, either.

The Rinnegan user rubbed at his tired eyes and tried to get the jumbled mess of words on the page in front of him to focus. The seal had not been the wisest idea, to say the least. While useful in its limiting of her chakra and the ability to track her movements, it provided a kind of hypersensitivity that only exacerbated his connection to her. He could feel her presence every time his attention slipped, sense her location within the base, count the steps it would take to reach her, and even worse- imagine pressing her into his chest and wrapping his arms around her like he had last night in the depths of his unconsciousness.

The sound of light footsteps filtered in from the hall and Konan appeared to dump another large pile of papers onto his desk, eyeing his inactivity with an ill hidden air of suspicion. Pein impatiently scrawled his signature across another meaningless document and shoved it away, a dull ache taking residence in his head.

Finally sealing the pinkette's position within the organization had been a victory; she would be a member for as long as the ring sat on her slim pinky finger, but the success felt shallow. She belonged to the Akatsuki, yes, but not to him. She would follow his orders and complete missions, no doubt, but only to protect her teammates and village, not out of any sense of loyalty to him. The Akatsuki leader couldn't help but feel the slightest bit weary. He'd given up a plan that had been set in motion for years to appease her, much to the displeasure of Konan and the other higher ranking members, and yet she still distrusted him.

Perhaps it was time to allow her some more insight into the organisation's workings- not that allowing her to help Zetsu with a vaccination for his villagers wasn't an attempt to do so already. While their means for completing goals may seem ruthless at times even to him, there was a lot more to the Akatsuki than the scary stories they told children before bed in Konoha led on. They ran Ame, after all; protected and cared for it just as Sakura did her village.

He filed plans to show her more of his home and speak to her about his true goals away along with the year's import records and financial reports and turned to Konan.

"Has Zetsu completed his work on that vaccination?"

His old teammate lazily twirled a paper senbon around her pointer finger from her seat on the window sill.

"He and Sakura-san are working on it as we speak."

Pein batted away a sudden feeling of unease and nodded his acknowledgement.

"And the children's condition?"

The paper nin began deftly twisting the senbon into some kind of complicated flower and gazed out the window to the weeping skies above.

"Worsening, but if we can manage to get them treatment in time they should survive."

Another rush of discomfort shot up his spine and his grip tightened minutely around the pen in his hand.

"Have Tobi bring the families another round of-"

Blood roared into his ears like a tidal wave and a cold flash of fear washed into his stomach. Konan raised a concerned brow at his sudden rise from the desk, but Pein was already down the hall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes:
> 
> 1\. um woops I'm a tease
> 
> 2\. looks like the seal is more two sided then Pein thought eh?
> 
> 3\. In case you don't remember, that cave scene in the beginning of the chapter is a throwback to when Sakura first meets Pein (in her/their minds).
> 
> 4\. Hope the "get off" pun isn't too hard to catch/too cheesy, I'm horrible I know.
> 
> 5\. Shoutout to Sasusakui for reviewing so frequently. I really appreciate everyone's feedback!
> 
> 6\. The introduction of Zetsu was for Candypop96, hope you enjoyed! We'll be seeing more of him in the future as well.
> 
> 7\. Some more Itachi and Deidara next chapter, wink wink.
> 
> 8\. Not much to explain in this one; pertussis is an incredibly infectious disease also known as whooping cough here in the states that mainly affects small children. It's a bacterial disease so I figure all the moisture and humidity in Ame's climate would be a good breeding ground for it.
> 
> 9\. Give me a shout out if you want to be my beta, and come bother me on tumblr at ki-same if I'm not updating fast enough or you have questions.


End file.
